Fresh out of West Virginia University, Matthew Peaslee has been a Pirates fan for over two decades. While times have been hard, Peaslee remains a loyalist. He has been to 26 of the 30 MLB ballparks, but PNC Park has always been his summer home. With every slide there will be Pittsburgh Pride!

Pitt Peas in Baltimore

The last time i was in Baltimore I guess it could be said that I wore out my welcome.

The Pirates were taking on the Orioles in an interleague play game in which my Bucs were up 6-0 at one point. Final score: 9-6 Baltimore. I was harrased, made fun of and spat at. Well not spat at but I thought I would be.

Monday night was much more charming. After all I was in the Charm City.

The Orioles did fall to the Kansas City Royals 4-3 and the weather was a bitter cold 45 degrees with a heavy drizzle falling throughout the nine innings, but I did enjoy myself as a neutral fan.

Appearing in my National League hat I kept my loyalty to “real, stern” baseball in an American League town. I hate when someone wears an item of a team not playing to a game so I with held from any Pirates gear. My buddies Andrew, Bryan and Ryan were clad in their Orange hoping for some Orioles magic that never seemed to come. Andrew is my friend from WVU and with a name like Schuerholz you have to be a baseball fan, i’ll touch more on that later. Bryan and Ryan are friends of Drew’s who I have become close with over the years.

Bryan had a dang cool homemade poster. Based on the Sesame Street logo and the street running parallel to Camden Yards, Eutaw Street. Brian Bergeson took the hill for the O’s Monday night. Bryan gave Bergeson a cool nickname that completed the sign perfectly, “Big Berg.” No not Big Bird, Big Berg! Pretty cool if I do say so myself.

While I did cheer for the hometeam to appease my friends I had a much bigger reason to root on the Orioles. One of my favorite baseball players of all time dons the black and orange, Corey Patterson.

Corey and I have had a long relationship. Mostly just me with Corey but here is how that got started. He was on the cover of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly when he was drafted by the Cubs in 1998. I was impressed with this up and comer and made it gospel that I collect as many cards of his as I could. While Patterson never even came close to living up to his billing I made out like a bandit coming across nearly 30 cards of him. I think it is safe to say I am his biggest fan. It was great to see him play in person for the first time. He scored the only three runs for Baltimore and on Tuesday belted a solo homerun to spark a come from behind win for the O’s. Watch out boys and girls, Corey is back!

Here are some more sights and sounds (well just sights, because you cannot hear any of this blog) from a very fun night at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Unique monument area behind the gate in center field. It honors the retired numbers of the Orioles. I like that it is outside the physical boundaries of the stadium so fans can enjoy it on non gamedays.

The bird mascot was just chilling on the ledge out of the pressbox. It is a kind of high drop. I was worried he would fall. But he must have much better depth perception than me as he was perched there comfortably for 2 innings. He is a bird after all.

If only players today could be as respectable as Cal Ripken Jr. He was one of my favorites growing up. I love how he will always be adored by the Baltimore faithful. But PNC, come on! I know you sponsor many East Coast baseball teams but you do the most good for the Pirates. WIth PNC Park you should be restricted to just Pittsburgh. However rumors are floating around that due to the Pirates poor play PNC wants out of their contract early.

Out on Eutaw Street there are about 25 baseball shaped plaques, like this one, marking where balls have landed over the years. There have been some pretty deep shots including one that hit the famed wearhouse behind right field. This one was hit by one of my favorite players of the 90’s, Mo Vaughn.

Exiting the stadium on the walk back to the car this church sign delievered a blessing message to its beloved baseball fans, escpecially those in the AL East.

The real reason I was in Baltimore was for the West Virginia-Towson game on Tuesday, no really that is the reason. I had an off day giving tours so I made the trip representing my other job at WVU as beat writer for the baseball team. It was cool to be at my first away game although the crowd was miniscule it was a great time for a handful of reasons.

One, WVU beat Towson 8-4.

Two, the game was free for everybody.

The Mountaineers need momentum heading into their final series of the year in hopes of clinching a spot in the Big East tournament. I talked to the coach after the game and wrote my articles to be published in the paper tomorrow.

Three, it was great to see a college campus. I love checking out different universities to see how it compares and contrasts with WVU in Morgantown. Like I do on any campus with a statue of their mascot (ie Pitt and Colorado) I have to take it out for a spin. Although he was a little wet from the rain that was drizzling all day the Towson Tiger was a quality landmark on a very nice campus.

The Fourth and final reason why it was an awesome day goes back to the baseball inspired name of Schuerholz. I’ve mentioned before that Andrew’s uncle is John Schuerholz. Former general manager of the Royals and Braves and current President of the Braves. The baseball field at Towson University is named in his honor as he went to school here and played baseball.

Although small, the field is very nice and something the family and Andrew are very proud of. I enjoyed it too along with my grand two days in Maryland. I capped it off with a delicious crabcake. I only eat them when I am in Maryland, only because I know that any where else they will simply be mediocre. I only dabble with the best!

Corey Patterson is a guy I absolutely hate. As a Cubs fan, I thought that CP was going to be a perennial all star. Little did I know that any time you got 2 strikes on him you could predict with 99% certainty that he would be swinging at a high and tight fastball for the strikeout. He did it all the time. I cursed at my tv way too much those days. Glad you had fun, but hearing about Patterson only brings back bad memories for me…

Awesome!! I love going to Baltimore. I’ve been there wearing Mets, Red Sox and White Sox jersies and I still have never had anything said to me in Baltimore or had any trouble (knock knock). I make sure I go at least once. I shoot for twice a year. Only a 3 1/2 hour drive when driving off hours.
mikehttp://thebrooklyntrolleyblogger.mlblogs.com/

Big Berg… very clever! And your thoughts about the mascot falling made me laugh. But it is a bird so I’m sure he could fly… haha. I’ve always wanted to go to Camden Yards because I hear it’s absolutely beautiful. Now, I am guilty as charged for wearing shirts to baseball games in which that team isn’t playing. I should buy a Lincecum t-shirt sometime…
Elizabethhttp://redsoxgirl46.mlblogs.com

I can say I was lucky enough to see Cal Ripken at Camden Yards during his final year in 2001. I would say it is my favorite stadium I’ve been to. It’s just sad to see what was once a really good fan base in Baltimore starting to give up on the team. Every time I watch one of their games there doesn’t seem like there are more than 5,000 people there

Baltimore is one of the roughest stadiums I have been to. I saw a Yanks-O’s game once and wore a Jeter jersey (my #2 team :O) and nearly got into a fist fight with some drunk dude who kept harassing me. I finally got up and in his face, asked if he wanted to have his *** kicked by a girl in front of thousands of people and surprisingly, he left and did not come back. It pays to be a tad crazy I guess. LOL

Never been to Baltimore but from your report and others I’ve read, I should go.
Now, like Elizabeth, I am guilty of wearing my Dodger gear at other games. Well, I only been to two other stadium where my beloved Dodgers were not playing. Toronto and Boston. Both times I was in the area because of work. I don’t own anything from another team….well, I don have the All-Star t-shirt from Pittsburgh but I use that to sleep ’cause is huge just like the ones I sent you.
Emmahttp://crzblue.mlblogs.com

Sadly, I’ve never been to Camden yards. What a beautiful ball park though! I definitely plan on going to Baltimore, Maryland again. (Yes i’ve been to baltimore but couldn’t catch a game :P) Such a beautiful town… lots of crab :P

Matt,
Love the new nickname your friend gave Bergeson.
Classic Berman-ism at its best.
Hope you guys hit the best BBQ short of Memphis at Boog’s BBQ while you were in Camden.
By far the best BBQ from a Lake City, Florida native up in that triangle of the country.
If I am in Baltimore, it is a must have even before smashing the daylights and meat out of some crabs with oversized mallets.
Always great to hit a ballpark in a pack, and glad you saw those plaques down by the Warehouse signifying some collossial shots into that region.
Great post, and I am jealous and salavating just thinking of Camden Yards right now.

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